Lieberman repeated the military’s line that Israeli forces do not seek escalation with Iran, but will not let the Islamic Republic turn Syria into a “forward base” against Israel.

In its most significant intervention in Syria’s 7-year conflict, Israel attacked “dozens” of targets of the Assad regime and Iranian forces overnight.

The Israel Defense Forces claimed Thursday morning that it set back Iranian military capabilities in Syria by “many months” with the attacks. The IDF said the operations followed the firing of about 20 rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli military said that, while degrading the Iranian force in Syria, it is not seeking an escalation of hostilities with Tehran.

Pro-Assad forces appeared to launch rockets in retaliation for two Israeli strikes on the T-4 base in central Syria — where Iranian personnel are stationed and reportedly have a control center for drone flights — since February, and a claimed Israeli missile attack on the Kisweh base south of Damascus on Tuesday.

Several Revolutionary Guards, including a commander, were slain at T-4, while Wednesday’s missiles are said to have killed about 15 military personnel at the Kisweh base, including eight Iranians.

The IDF said the rockets were fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ al-Quds Force. While Israel has blamed Iran for drone overflights of Israeli territory, it was the first time the IDF attributed an attack directly to the Islamic Republic.

The IDF attacked Quds Forces’ intelligence centers, weapons depots, storage facilities, observation posts, and logistics centers, as well as the rocket launcher that started the exchange. Among locations given were the al-Kiswah base, an Iranian compound “north of Damascus”, storage warehouses at Damascus International Airport, and observation posts and munitions in the zone near the Golan Heights.

A pro-Syrian opposition journalist adds that the Quds Forces headquarters in southern Damascus was targeted:

Around 3am the Israeli forces attacked the HQ of the Quds corp (Iranian forces) in Alsaida Zainab in Damascus.

“All of the targets that we engaged were effectively destroyed,” Conricus asserted.

While saying that Israel is not seeking a confrontation with Tehran, the spokesman said, “The IDF will not tolerate this Iranian presence on the Golan and in Syria.”

Syrian State news agency SANA initially claimed that air defenses had intercepted “scores” of “hostile Israeli missiles”. It later acknowledged that military bases, an arms depot, and military radar were struck although “most” missiles had not reached their targets.

Iran’s State outlet Press TV played down the clashes, saying that “several” Israeli missiles had been mentioned. It did mention any Iranian targets.

Israeli military sources said they informed Russian counterparts in advance of the strikes, and Russia’s forces offered no resistance to the operations. Moscow is also continuing to delay any provision of advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to the Assad regime.

Israel and Russia have maintained a de facto cooperation over Syria since September 2015, when Netanyahu accepted Russia’s military intervention to prop up the Assad regime and Putin assured that Iranian-led militia and Hezbollah would not move into the area near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Russia’s English-language State media limits itself this morning to recycling the claim of pro-Assad outlets of “dozens” of Israeli missiles downed.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov tipped off the Kremlin’s line in a cautious statement, with no criticism of Israel:

All of this is very alarming and raising concerns. It is necessary to deescalate tensions. We are verifying all the details now.

We’ve got contacts with all parties.

Pro-Assad Attack Kills 10 Family Members in Idlib Province

The latest pro-Assad attacks on Idlib Province in northwest Syria have killed 10 members of one family.

The White Helmets civil defense reported four raids on homes in the town of Maarzita in southern Idlib.

Pro-Assad forces — enabled by Russian airstrikes which broke Moscow’s proclaimed “de-escalation zone” — took a slice of southeast Idlib during the winter before redeploying forces for the capture of East Ghouta near Damascus.

While a series of Turkish observation posts have deterred further ground assaults, Russian and regime warplanes have periodically hit civilian targets across the province, causing scores of casualties.

About The Author

Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.

Another fake IAF animation. How lame. Still, Iran only has a limited military presence in Syria. Israel were always going to have a major advantage given the fact that have the entirety of their defense force at thei immediate disposal. If the roles had been reversed and the Israelis had a handful of military bases across the border with Iran, they would get their asses kicked.

When all else fails and you’re hypocrisy and double standards are exposed, just scream “whattaboutism”

kevin
on May 11, 2018 at 16:12

You’re not exposing shit. It’s a sad ass attempt at diversion because you don’t have the mental capacity to come up with a relevant response or at least something original. You get that whataboutism from reading too much Russian propaganda. The Russians use whataboutism to justify every war crime and aggression they’ve committed. It’s truly pathetic.

More lizard brain logic. Thr hypocrisy and double standards employed by apologists for US empirialism is self evident. That’s why said apologists lose it whoever someone is rude enough to bring it to their attention.

The Russians use whataboutism to justify every war crime and aggression they’ve committed. It’s truly pathetic.

Whereas US exceptionalism is used justify every war crime and aggression they’ve committed. It’s truly disgusting and the world is growing sick of it.

caligola
on May 10, 2018 at 09:38

Israel if it wants it invades syria and after 2 days bibi is drinking tea at assad’s palace.

srael if it wants it invades syria and after 2 days bibi is drinking tea at assad’s palace.

LOL. So much for learning history. Do we need to remind you about how Iraq was supposed to be a cakewalk? Or Olmert’s prediction that he would wipe out Hezbollah? Or Israel’s claim that they would cross the Litani in 2006 and 30 days later were still working on it?

Bibbi can’t even visit a beach in Israel without a coterie of half a dozen body guards surrounding him.

Israel’s ground forces could barely contain Hamas. They got completely smashed in Lebanon in 2006z. Taking a few pot shots from across the border from is a long way from a ground invasion, let alone holding on to territory.

In your dreams. If Israel invaded Syria, it would get chewed up and spat right out the way Hezbollah did it to them in 2006. Israel might dominate the skies but it’s ground forces, which are pathetic, would be dead meat

incyprus
on May 10, 2018 at 18:28

“None of those planes even entered Syrian air space. Total cowards”

Keep licking yourself, I guess that’s whats left to do, given the crickets singing in moscow and beijing. Oh don’t forget to polish up your S300s, they are get rusty all over…

Given what a soft attack it turned out to be, and he fact the Syrians were able to shoot down 71 of the 105 sub sonic sloths, it’s understandable that Russia didn’t see fit to escalate the situation. The US initially threatened a devastating attack and they ended up just hitting a few empty buildings and one pharmaceutical building.

It’s obvious that F35 is a lemon that will never see any serious action. It was intended to be an all purpose fighter bomber but it sucks at everything. That’s why the Israelis used F15s on this latest attack. F35s might be useful props for air shows but when it counts, anyone stupid enough to buy them will always go back to tried and tested 1970s era F16s, F15s and F18s

caligola
on May 10, 2018 at 19:11

“Israel might dominate the skies but it’s ground forces, which are pathetic, would be dead meat”

this goes down in the top 2 greatest bs ever read not in here but in the whole history of internet. Calling the IDF pathetic forces…..as i said before; you have no clues, no knowledge, nothing.Just propaganda. Keep us laughing Andre.

p.s. maybe have a read at some history books, give you a hint, i would concentrate on 1967….just as a “minor” example.

p.s. maybe have a read at some history books, give you a hint, i would concentrate on 1967….just as a “minor” example.

I would concentrate on 2000 and 2006. The IDF of today is not the IDF of ‘67. It has become accustomed to relying entirely on air power and on the ground, maintaining an occupation against a wreak and defenseless enemy. As 2006 showed us, they fall apart when confronted with a formidable opponent. Israel even admits it cannot defeat Hezbollah.

Maybe not, but they can turn Lebanon into a parking lot which is why Hezbollah won’t do shit about that hilarious ass beating their masters just took. Israel must be doing something right if it has a bullshit artist like you throwing tantrums.

They did that in 2006 and still got their asses kicked. What’s more, Hezbollah’s clean up and rebuilding effort was so remarkable that Americans were wondering if they shouldn’t have outsourced the Katrina clean up to them.

Hezbollah, Iran and Russia must be doing something right if it has a bullshit artist like you throwing tantrums.

caligola
on May 11, 2018 at 07:11

Keep us laughing Andre. Keep us laughing 🙂

kevin
on May 11, 2018 at 16:16

Really? OK, I guess that’s why they aren’t doing shit as their master and patron gets hammered. Guess they’re scared of drowning in “victory”. Israel established deterrence and now Hezbollah is scared shitless of being the cause of Lebanon being destroyed(again).

Israel established deterrence and now Hezbollah is scared shitless of being the cause of Lebanon being destroyed(again).

It’s funny you should bring up the establishment of deterrence. It was in the wake of the 2006 humiliation that Israel’s greatest crisis was the loss of what it believes was it’s deterrence capability.

It was only after Cast Lead, which amounted to little more than Israel shooting fish in a barrel, that Israel declared it had re-established it’s deterrence capability. That’s the equivalent of a street gang being rolled by a rival gang and mugging some senior citizen to re-establish it’s street cred.

kevin
on May 10, 2018 at 23:36

Nice to see you unwittingly admit that Iran just got their asses kicked. LOL

Israel established deterrence and now Hezbollah is scared shitless of being the cause of Lebanon being destroyed(again)

The irony is priceless Kevin. I fact, the biggest crisis Israel had after 2006 was that they had lost their deterrence capability. It was only after Cast Lead, when Israel resorted to shootjng fish in a barrel, that Israel declared it had re-estabed it’s deterrence capability.

Don’t act dum Kazemi. You yourself have admitted that Hezbollah kicked Israel’s butt in 2006. The US could not even win in Iraq. Israel have as much chance of defeating. Iran as Iran has of defeating Israel. That’s why Israel is constantly goading the US to do the fighting for them

You surprised? You really think russia gives a crap about iran or syria? Other than gas pipes of course. China couldent care less from day one of what happens in syria. I mean your PM was with Putin the day before lol. But i am starting to notice that brighter pro assad supporters are starting to understand the real role of russia in syria and they are not pleased at all. This happens usually when propaganda hits against reality.

Discovering what a mistake that was, Russia is now trying to find a way to get out and save face. Russia has cut its military budget more than 20%. That is the end to foreign adventurism. Russians want jobs and homes, and not phantom victories in Syria.

What troops? There are almost no troops in Iraq or DNSF. Not much in Afghanistan either. The only reason there are still some remaining in Iraq and Afghanistan is because of your friends Taliban and ISIS.

1. GPS is not all that useful with targets that are mobile.
2. The further you fire missiles and rockets from, the greater the opportunity to shoot them down

caligola
on May 11, 2018 at 07:17

Andre is on the verge of a nervous meltdown. Left alone in here to deliver class E propaganda. Keep dreaming about the 70 cruise intercepted (lol) keep dreaming about the IDF beeing pathetic forces (double lol) keep dreaming of how a badass country iran is and how with russia and syria it can conquer the whole world. When you wake up call us….we will send you the meds !

Israeli missiles use AI technology to hone in on their targets. That is why the S300s will be useless, and Putin saved face by not delivering them. The 70 out of 101 is so hilarious. Not a single piece of evidence was offered to back this up. Then they scrambled to show a Tomahawk part which turned out to be a decrepit missile that was not even a Tomahawk. Face it Andre – soon these missiles will pick off Iranian nuke centers and Ali K. palaces. That will be the end of Islamic imperialism and Islamic terrorism.

Israeli missiles use all types of guidance systems depending on their purpose. None of those guidance systems protect those missiles from being intercepted. What’s more, those guidance systems are blind to missile sites until the launchers give away their location – which only happens after they have fired a missile.

Yes it is hilarious that 70 out of 105 missiles were either shot down, interrupted by electronic warfare or simply failed to reach their target.

Also hilarious is that 30 missiles with 500lb warheads would be needed to destroy a building.

Face it Kazemi, if the US needs 105 missiles to destroy 3 buildings, there aren’t enough Tomahawk in the existence to destroy Iranian nuke centers – especially Fordow.